Visual Language Magazine Contemporary Fine Art Vol 4 No 1

VL Intimate with Demian Dressler
“It’s the little things that count.”
VL: So, congratulations on your selection as a Top Master of Contemporary Art by Art Tour International,
and your upcoming exhibition in the Museum of Fine Art in Las Vegas. So, everyone is wanting to know:
what is your new “mystery medium” What can you share with us about how you create your beautifully
vibrant abstracts
Demian: Well, the short answer is abstract macro photography, hybridized with traditional painting using
acrylics, watercolors, and whatnot. I apply these painted media on what I call a screen, often film paper
or plastic, and then I spend ridiculous amounts of time finding the perfect field to capture a photographic
image. This image is then transferred to panel. Many people don’t realize that the photographed field is
often less than an inch square when they look at the wall art. On some of the final works I will add further
layers of paint, or use chips of diamonds, meteorite dust, rose quartz or other minerals, some gold leaf, or
whatever lends itself to the piece.
VL: You were raised on Maui, graduated with an Ivy League doctorate and still are a practicing veterinarian,
as well as a full time artist. How has this influenced your creative process
Demian: Well, I know Maui has been a big influence. I’ve always been attracted to the rawness, the intensity,
and the brilliance found in natural things, and my childhood was filled with this, the colors and forms
of Hawaii. This art is created with a very organic and natural process, in spite of the lens and paintbrush,
and what is brilliant or intense is what ends up in the final pieces. So there is a correspondence there. I
grew up without running water or electricity, so when I was not doing art I was surfing, spending time with
animals, and exploring the natural world. There is some magical essence, something vital that is found
both in good art and in the natural world. This has always been my inspiration. It could also be that I am
very restless and I constantly seek, which I suppose assists innovation a bit. As to the veterinarian hat, I
have done quite a bit of surgery for many years…here we work with the hands, look closely at things, and
go by feel a lot. People think of medicine as science, but it is equally art, it is intuitive, there is a sensitivity
that must come with it, an empathy, and the hands are a channel in this capacity, and feeling is central. So
I suppose its an amalgam of all of these life experiences.
VL: On your website (www.demianart.net), you have a quote: “Art should bring magic into our daily lives,
an escape to a different place, maybe even a different world, somewhere delightful, exciting and alive. This
is why I create.” Tell us about this.
Demian: Well, you’ve heard the saying, “It’s the little things that count” Sometimes it can be a moment
in time, when suddenly everything stops and this fantastic and wonderful image separates itself from its
surroundings and presents itself to us. It captures us, our attention. And it may take us away, somewhere
far off, an escape to something better than the day to day, the grind, the mill. This is what I want to convey
or produce for the viewer or collector. This is really why I am an artist- to offer this feeling, this magic, this
alive-ness and make it an accessible part of day-to-day living.
http://www.demianart.net/
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